How A Federal Government Shutdown Would Affect The Northwest

Military service members, transportation security and essential federal law enforcement officials will continue working during the shutdown without pay. In other words, you may see a whole bunch of very smart people wandering around unsure of what to do with themselves since they won't be allowed to work on the great questions like going back to the moon and how we can actually get to Mars. Guidance from the Defense Department issued on Friday said military personnel would not be paid - neither would necessary civilian personnel. So the troops just received a paycheck, and they wouldn't be due for another one until February 1.

Like the bus in "Speed", the federal government is barreling toward a shutdown at full throttle.

U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo, who serves as chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of IL, which operates the federal courthouses in Chicago and Rockford, said the district court has enough funding in reserve to maintain current operations levels for "about 3 weeks".

Social Security and disability checks were issued in 2013 with no change in payment dates, and field offices remained open but offered limited services. And congress - and it has to start in the House because it's an Appropriations bill.

Will lawmakers close their offices?

Congress is hurtling toward yet another government shutdown deadline on January 19 and while the focus for this round of negotiations is on immigration, there is one key issue that will determine whether the deadline comes and goes without an agreement.

Well, no. Ali Velshi had a good, if brief, explainer on MSNBC on Thursday explaining what stops and what doesn't if (when) Congress can't get a CR to the president's desk before he loses patience, reverses direction and flies off to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend. "I call on our senators on both sides of the aisle to support a sensible solution and ensure we keep the government up and running".

If you need a new passport, you might want to put in your request in now.

National parks: The Trump administration plans to keep national parks open with rangers and security guards on duty. But not every part of the government would shutter.

"We are prioritizing access to the most accessible and most iconic areas of parks and public lands", Andrew Munoz, a National Park Service spokesman for the Pacific West Region, said in an email.

Active-duty troops and Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel will also keep working without paychecks, along with TSA screeners, air traffic controllers, health inspectors and law enforcement officers.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission meanwhile would have to furlough 95 per cent of its employees immediately. Washington was only able to function by dipping into its emergency reserves. Even though Amtrak depends on federal subsidies, it also gets revenue from ticket sales and has managed to stay open during past shutdowns.

So if the hot stock market of 2018 is to cool off dramatically, it will likely be some other hiccup that derails it.

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